Is your spouse a pack rat? Do you ever get the inclination to just start throwing stuff away? I'm looking around today thinking... why do we have all this crap? We don't even use half of it! And feeling a bit resentful for having to get rid of my things to make room for my spouse's stuff. He's a great one for buying things cuz he thinks it's a deal. I keep telling him it's not a deal if you don't use it! Is anyone else guilty of this? I think society as a whole is too materialistic. Do we really need all the stuff we have? I also think that sometimes technology causes more stress in our lives rather than making things simpler. What do you think?

All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

luckily neither me or my wife are pac rats, if we don't need it we either sell it, donate it or throw it away. My oldest daughter on the other hand will not throw away anything. Every so often when she's not home we go in with a trash bag and get rid of bunch of junk she's accumulated, most of the time she doesn't even relize anything is missing.

luckily neither me or my wife are pac rats, if we don't need it we either sell it, donate it or throw it away. My oldest daughter on the other hand will not throw away anything. Every so often when she's not home we go in with a trash bag and get rid of bunch of junk she's accumulated, most of the time she doesn't even relize anything is missing.

[&o] caught me....but I pack rat little stuff and constuction material...because I look way ahead and see the uses...MRB. though...please will throw out my stuf but this year we aquired 2..JD 400's and 2Big cases lawn tractors and what 12 guns?....?...hhhmmm

Im a pack rat but my wife is 100 times worse . She has her own business and attends some conferences . When she is gone I get rid of some "stuff" .
My neighbor , who passed away several years ago , had a policy that if he didn't use something in his garage in two years , he would toss it out . The problem was , a month or so after he tossed it , he would have a need and have to buy a replacement .

We have lived in Indiana now for 2 years. Prior to this last move, we lived in Alabama for 6 years. Before that it was 5 years in Ohio preceded by 3 years in Virginia. We have boxes in the basement (still un-opened) that my wife packed up when we left Michigan in 1993. When I inquire as to why we still have these things, she points to about 30 sets of rods and reels that I have stacked up in the basement . I believe the proper fencing term is "touche". If it's her stuff, she's a packrat. If it's my stuff, I'm a collector. This is why we bought a house with a 40 X 80 foot barn and a 40 X 60 machine shed. We got lotsa stuff

Is your spouse a pack rat? Do you ever get the inclination to just start throwing stuff away? I'm looking around today thinking... why do we have all this crap? We don't even use half of it! And feeling a bit resentful for having to get rid of my things to make room for my spouse's stuff. He's a great one for buying things cuz he thinks it's a deal. I keep telling him it's not a deal if you don't use it! Is anyone else guilty of this? I think society as a whole is too materialistic. Do we really need all the stuff we have? I also think that sometimes technology causes more stress in our lives rather than making things simpler. What do you think?

We're in between. I accumulate tools, hunting equipment and books. My wife does a lot of crafting and has boxes of stuff. However, after a year or two, we sort through the books and other stuff and discard if its junk or donate to various charities if the item is still useful. I've donated bikes, computers, clothes, tools and the like.

As far as technology not making things any easier, its part of the "Technology Paradox". While the technology may make aspects of life simpler, it can add to confusion and anxiety. For example, having to remember new passwords, emailing or talking on the cell phone while driving, etc.

About every six month or so I re-arrange and go through my basement and get rid of stuff I have not used in several years. However, as someone mentioned before, it never fails that a couple of weeks later I need that item and am forced to go out and buy the silly thing again. Grrr.... [:@]

I always keep scrap construction material in garage rafters and have built alot of useful things from scrapes.

My wife on the other hand is a borderline OCD clean fanatic. I am constantly holding her back from tearing into my stuff and chucking it out. We compromise, and that is how I ususally keep my "collections" organized. If it looks neat she usually leaves it alone.